


Dragging Me Down

by LittlePandemonium



Category: South Park
Genre: #ProtectPip, Abandonment, Abuse, Brothership, Bullied Pip, Clyde is a dick, Confused Kenny, Crazy Amount Of Pip Abuse, Developing Friendships, Drama, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Guardian Angel, Homelessness, Humiliation, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Candy too why not, Implied Kendy, Kind Karen, Kinda AU, Multi, Mutual Understandings, Neglect, Other, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Pip Abuse, Poverty, Precious Pip, So is Cartman no surprise there then, Starvation, Superheroes, Teenagers, Violence, Well it is South Park lmao, What A Predicament, implied Creek, sad pip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2019-07-20 17:17:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16141844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittlePandemonium/pseuds/LittlePandemonium
Summary: Mysterion saves Pip.





	1. Where It All Began

**Author's Note:**

> Something I've been working on for a while. Let's see how it goes!
> 
> This story contains a lot of angst. Like, a crazy amount of it. Do you expect anything less from South Park?
> 
> Prepare yourselves for the incoming feels!

It was a cold, cold night in South Park. 

The moon was shining brightly, casting a mysterious light onto the town which projected onto the streets of Colorado. A hidden figure was seen jumping through the darkness, hopping from building to building as he patrolled the town.

Mysterion ran along the line of building rooftops as sleek as a black panther, cape flowing behind him and eyes darting around for any signs of trouble down on the streets. The masked vigilante was on his nightly watch of the town, searching through the sky for any signs of danger from his vantage points up above. 

After scaling up a particularly large building, Mysterion froze when he heard the sound of a yelp and a scuffle coming from the alley below him. He slid down a drainpipe, jumped off and onto one of the building's window ledges and perched there to get a better look of what was going on.

The sound of a fist slamming against soft flesh was heard, as well as a harsh whimper from the obvious victim of the scuffle and a shout from the enraged attacker. “Give me the money NOW you little bitch!”

"P-Please sir, I don't have any m-money on me at the moment!" The victim pleaded shakily, fear evident in his strained tone.

Mysterion frowned. From the sounds of it, it was a typical mugging gone violent. The superhero narrowed his eyes in thought. He seemed to recognize the victim’s timid voice from somewhere, although he couldn't quite place where from. He shifted slightly from where he was crouched to get a better look at the figures below, and upon closer inspection, he realised that the boy pinned against the wall was one of his classmates. 

Specifically, a very distinctive, pathetic, classmate of his.

It was Pip.

Mysterion groaned and rolled his eyes in disdain, not looking forward to saving Pip, or Frenchie as everyone called him. He was known for being the school's number one loser, being even more unpopular than Butters on the social chain of popularity. His British accent and Victorian fashion sense only further aggravated his fellow students, causing them to bully him mercilessly. However, pathetic limey or not, Mysterion knew he still had a duty to help him. The hero sighed and adjusted his hood, making sure it was completely concealing his identity, then prepared to make an entrance. 

Pip was not having a good day. He’d been bruised and battered enough at school so was a little miffed that this criminal had decided to attack him at the time he was supposedly free from his tormentors. The small blonde struggled hard against his captor's vice grip but remained pinned against the wall, unable to do anything to free himself. The thug punched him in the face again, splitting his lip and causing it to bleed.

"You little punk!" His attacker growled, yanking the boy’s collar impatiently. "Where the fuck is your money? I know you have some, so where is it you little bitch?"

"I-I honestly don't have any w-with me sir, I-I left it at school!" Pip replied fearfully, too stunned and scared to say anything other than that. "P-Please believe m-me sir, I-I'm not lying-"

He was cut off suddenly when the muscular thug smacked him across the face, flinging him to the floor. Pip let out a pained cry and landed on his knees, scraping them hard along the gravel. He then tried crawling away from his attacker but was quickly pulled up by his hair and slammed face first into the wall. The thug then drew back his fist in preparation to pummel the British teen again, but froze when a large bang was heard from behind him.

The brute turned around slowly, Pip doubled over in his grip, and raised an eyebrow at the hooded teenager's sudden appearance. Mysterion was crouching on top of a garbage can, hands clenched into fists and then he stood up, eyeing the thug with malice.

"Who the fuck are you supposed to be?" The thug spat, grip on Pip's hair tightening as he eyed up the masked stranger.

“I’m Mysterion, and I’m gonna kick your ass.”

Pip felt his heart skip a beat. Mysterion was here? He’d heard all about the masked hero from his classmates. They’d constantly be talking about Mysterion during breaktimes and he’d seen posters of the hero plastered around the school and in other student's lockers. Pip desperately wished he could have one of his own but had no money to buy one with, and if he did have one in his locker, it'd probably get stolen anyway. 

But now the renowned hero was standing here, right in front of him!

Mysterion scowled at the thug. “You will let go of him. Now." He spat, jumping off of the trash can and landing in front of the pair, arms raised defensively.

"Tch, nobody tells me what to do, brat." The big bruiser suddenly threw Pip aside and ran at the young hero, drawing his hand back into a fist. Mysterion saw it coming and swiftly avoided it, kicking the thug in the crotch and causing him to double over so he could get another quick shot of him in the face. 

The thug stumbled back and growled, preparing to try a new tactic. He grinned as he pulled out a switchblade from his pocket, slashing the knife at Mysterion who managed to dodge most of the blows before jumping up and pulling himself onto the stairwell which overlooked the garbage bins. 

“Scared, are you?” The thug mocked, stepping back. “Well while you’re up there, who’s going to protect the sissy?”

Laughing maniacally, the thug then turned back to Pip, who was still kneeling on the ground recovering from his previous attack. When Pip saw the thug approaching, he squeaked and weakly tried to crawl away, being stopped only when he felt his back hit the building wall behind him. Making a small noise of distress, the boy covered his head with his arms, preparing to be slashed again.

“Not today, fuckface!”

The thug turned his head to see Mysterion dive-bombing him, speedily delivering a roundhouse kick to his face. He went flying backwards into wall next to Pip and slid down it, groaning in pain. Pip recoiled and quickly pushed himself to his feet, rushing away while the menace recovered. Mysterion took this time to give the thug a raging headbutt, knocking him unconcious.

Well, that was his fourth job of the evening sorted. Mysterion hauled the criminal’s body to the entrance of the alleyway and unceremoniously dumped it onto a pile of garbage bags. He turned back into the alley to retrieve the thug’s switchblade and tucked it into his pocket, knowing that it’d probably come in handy if he kept it.

The vigilante was just about to leave the alley when he felt a small tug at his cloak. He span around to see Pip standing there with his hands behind his back, an innocent yet grateful expression on his face. His lip had stopped bleeding from where he had been struck, and his face was now sporting quite a few bruises, but he looked happy.

"Thank you for saving my life, Mr Mysterion! I am forever in your debt!" Pip smiled sincerely and bowed, making the superhero grimace inside. "Um, I'm not quite sure how to pay you back though, so if you think of something then please let me know and I will do my best to accomodate you!” He bowed his head.

"It's fine. Just doing my job." Mysterion replied, dismissing him with a wave of his hand. He walked forwards, trying to hide the limp in his leg. Pip noticed him stagger and lifted his arm over his shoulder to help support his weight.

“Y-You’re hurt! Please let me help you?” The kind boy asked, attempting to make the hero sit down on a cardboard box that was hidden in the shadows.

Mysterion groaned and tried to push himself away from the irritating blonde. "I'm fine, I’ll get over it.”

Pip once again pushed him down, "You're not fine, sir! Please let me bandage your leg! It’s bleeding quite badly and could become infected!” Before the hero could stop him, Pip had already started wrapping up his wound with some old newspapers that were carelessly laying on the floor. He tightly tied them around his leg to stop the bleeding and checked him over for any other injuries.

Mysterion sighed, leaning back against the box. It’s not as if he could stop him now. He glanced over at the Brit, taking in his pallid features before deciding to make conversation. “What are you even doing out here?”

Pip looked startled. “M-Me? I-I, um... I just went for a little walk. I... don’t live too far from here.”

“A little walk? At this time of night? No wonder you got assaulted, idiot.” Mysterion replied impassively, rolling his eyes at the boy’s stupidity.

“Um, sorry. I won’t do it again...” 

The duo sat in silence for a few minutes as Pip worked on another one of the hero’s fresh arm wounds. After a little while, Pip spoke up. “I’ve finished. You should be able to move now.”

Mysterion shifted. He lifted himself up and put a little bit of weight on his leg. It was feeling decidedly better now that Pip had plugged up the wound although would never admit it to the boy himself. “Thanks for the help. You better get back home now or somebody else might try and assault you.”

Pip gave a small nod of his head. "O-Of course, sir. Thanks again for your help. I really really appreciate it!"

“Don’t call me sir.” Mysterion replied as he shot back into the night, leaving a starstruck Pip standing in the alley.


	2. School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is finally up!
> 
> Hope you enjoy! c:

**The Next Day**

Kenny yawned as he dumped some books in his locker before slamming it shut. He was tired as fuck, having spent the entirety of the previous night dealing with the heightened crime spree in South Park. This basically entailed him beating up druggies and petty thieves all night long, but fortunately for him, he hadn’t come out of the situations too injured. Well, mostly not. Kenny felt a sharp stab of pain in his leg and winced slightly, giving it a quick rub. A swift slice to the calf didn’t seem like it’d bother him too much, but it really was giving him a fair bit of trouble. It was just so damn sore! The blonde yawned and idly rubbed another particularly painful stab wound in his abdomen as he made his way over to his friends. They were standing in the middle of the corridor, engrossed in what appeared to be a heated conversation about Wendy... again.

“Cartman, I just don’t know why you keep having to bring her into this!” Kyle complained, rubbing his temple. “She wasn’t the one who spread the rumour in the first place!”

“That’s right!” Stan agreed. “It was Heidi! Leave Wendy out of it, she’s done nothing wrong!”

Cartman sniffed indignantly. “Well I don’t care what you say, she’s still an intolerable fat bitch!”

“Oh yeah? Same thing can be said about you, asswipe!”

“Don’t you call me an asswipe you stinkin’ jew!”

“Hey guys.” Kenny greeted, completely ignoring the foul atmosphere he had just walked in on. The boys stopped glaring at one another and turned to him.

“Dude, you look like shit.” Stan stated, taking in the blonde’s heavily bruised face.

Cartman snorted, “Kenny always looks like shit. Did Kevin kick the crap outta you again?”

Kenny just ignored him.

“Where have you been dude?” Kyle asked, “You missed first period!”

“I overslept. Did I miss anything?”

“Not really. Oh! Craig tripped over Frenchie and he ended up flying through the window, which was pretty cool. Besides that, we didn’t really learn much.” Stan replied.

“Fair enough.” Kenny responded. “What class we got next?”

“English, but we were planning on skipping it. The presentations were due today and I haven’t done mine.”

“Correction: you were planning on skipping it.” Kyle chimed in, holding up his memory stick. “Unlike some people, I actually care about my grades.”

“Hey, I do care about my grades too Ky!” Stan frowned and shrugged his shoulders, “Just not my English one.” He added, causing his best friend to laugh. “What about you Cartman?”

“I’m skippin’ it too ‘cause I’m not about to stand up in front of the class and talk about crappy Shakespeare. Kenny?”

Kenny blinked, suddenly zoning back into the conversation. “What?”

“You skipping English?”

“Er, yeah. Probably.”

The bell rang, signalling the start of second period. Kyle waved his friends goodbye and the remaining three made their way over to one of the empty storerooms in the Science Department, sneakily entering it before anyone caught them. Once they were inside, Cartman managed to steal the only chair first, leaving Kenny and Stan to sit on a pile of books each instead.

“Right, we’ve just got to wait an hour and hope nobody finds us.” Stan said, checking the time on his mobile phone.

“If we do get caught, we’ll blame Kenny and tell them he forced us to skip class.”

“Whatever.” Kenny rolled his eyes, honestly not caring at this point. His grades had been falling to shit anyway due to his lack of concentration and tiredness in class, so missing classes on a frequent basis and getting yelled at for it was just the norm for him.

The three boys sat in silence for a few minutes, Stan and Cartman browsing Facebook on their phones and Kenny aimlessly flicking through a porno mag that he found sticking out of one of the biology textbooks. He had no idea why it was there and where it had come from, but the busty dames printed on the pages were just what he needed right now. After getting lost in the magazine for a short while, the sound of a commotion outside the storage room snapped Kenny out of his lustful haze. He whispered over to Stan, “Hey, do you hear that?”

Stan turned off his phone and listened carefully as the sounds of something frail being slammed against the metal door of a locker could be heard. Stan leaned his head next to the wall and frowned in concentration, trying to make out what the muffled voices were saying to no avail. The raven haired boy glanced over at Cartman to see what the larger boy made of the noise, but he was still on his phone, obviously not caring enough to listen.

A few moments later, the corridor went quiet. Kenny frowned and looked over at Stan, but before either of them could say anything, the storeroom door abruptly opened and something was thrown inside the room. It fell to the floor in a spectacular heap and the door quickly shut behind it, showering the boys in darkness once again. The figure shifted slightly, having been stunned from falling face-first on the floor. He slowly sat up and rubbed his head, picking up his puffy brown cap off the floor - which had been ejected mid-flight, and placed it back on his head. Two thin trails of blood ran down his nose and the figure wiped these away as he staggered to his feet. He took this time to then try and regulate his breathing so it sounded less like he was hyperventilating, unaware that he had an audience.

Kenny rolled his eyes. It would have to be _Frenchie_ of all people.

“Hey Pip.”

At Stan’s simple utterance, the figure let out a terrified squeak, visibly jumping and falling back against the wall. He looked across the room and was surprised to see three pairs of cold eyes staring back at him, unsure to why they were in the storeroom. Pip gulped and nervously nodded in greeting before darting over to the door, wanting to make a speedy escape.

“Oi, Frenchie! You didn’t see us in here, you got that?” Stan called after him.

The Brit nodded again and slipped out through the door, leaving the three friends alone again. Cartman was first to speak up. “Goddamnit, I should’ve asked him if he’s done my homework yet!”

“He’s got to do mine first, dickwad.” Kenny said. “I’m the one who needs the extra support in class, remember?”

“You shouldn’t be such a dumb fuck then, should you Ken?” Stan grinned, nudging the blonde’s arm.

~~~~~

A few hours later, Kenny was making his way to Mr Mackey’s office, having been sent there by Mr Garrison for talking back to him during class. Kenny strolled along with his hands in his pockets, still feeling the soreness of his nightly crimefighting activities radiating all over his body. He honestly didn’t know why he still helped the citizens of South Park. They were all ungrateful and undeserving of his help, so why did he still do it?

At least the British nerd had manners.

Kenny shook the thought away, wanting to stay clear of anything Pip related for the time being. The boy had already pissed him off enough last night, and was the main reason Kenny had so many knife wounds irritating his abdomen in the first place. Kenny soon reached Mr Mackey’s office and sat outside on the cheap plastic chair which was placed against the wall beside the door. Kenny leant his head against the wall and closed his eyes, beginning to drift off into a small sleep. He was promptly awoken by the office door opening. He stood up and waited for the person to leave the office, expecting it to be Craig or Clyde since they were the ones who often found themselves in there a lot of the time. Instead, a short, familiar blonde student did so, causing Kenny to scowl.

It was Pip! _Again_!

Kenny suppressed a groan and mustered his cruelest glare, hitting Pip with it when the boy turned around.

Pip gave a small smile. “Good day, Kenneth.”

Kenny just frowned in response, pushing past him into the office. He slammed the door behind him, causing a framed photo of Principal Victoria to jump off the wall and smash to the floor.

“Kenny McCormick!” The councillor scolded, pointing at the empty seat in front of his desk. “We need to talk about your temper, mmkay?”

Kenny groaned and slowly dragged himself over to the chair.

~~~~~

After a tedious hour talking to the councillor about how much of an awful student he was, Kenny had finally been released from his hellish prison. The bell had just gone for the end of the day so all Kenny had to do now was go home. Normally he walked back with his friends, but he knew Stan and Cartman were in detention and Kyle was doing some after school studying like the weirdo he was, so he’d be on his own today.

It took Kenny fifteen minutes to get home. He kicked a cola can as he made his way back to the ghetto, crossing the small wooden bridge which led to his rundown house in the middle of nowhere. He knocked on the door and was greeted by his younger sister, who immediately leapt at him. “Kenny!” She giggled, squeezing him in a tight embrace.

“Hey stranger! How are you doing?” He smiled, hugging her back.

“Good thank you! We did lots of drawing today and I drew my guardian angel!” She beamed, holding up a drawing of his own alter ego.

“That’s great sis! If Mysterion were here right now I bet he’d love that.” He patted her head and entered the lounge, his sister following him in. “Is Kevin back yet?”

“No, he’s still out with his friends. Mom and dad aren’t back yet either, so it’s just us two for now!” She replied happily. “What’s for dinner, Kenny? You’re the oldest which means you’re in charge!”

Kenny felt himself smile at her optimistic nature. “Hm, well that’s an easy one. We can either have chocolate pop tarts or strawberry pop tarts! Take your pick.”

“Hm… can we have one of each? I can have chocolate and you can have strawberry!”

Kenny nodded his head, making his way into the kitchen. “Okay sis, we’ll do that.”

~~~~~

Later on, after Kenny had fed, watered and cleaned his sister, it was time to put her to bed. Karen was kneeling up on her mattress, pinning her Mysterion picture to the wall. She kissed it and shuffled under the bed covers, hugging her teddy bear. “If Mysterion happens to come by will you show him my picture please?”

Kenny nodded his head and kissed her cheek. “I’ll do that. Goodnight sis.” He stepped away from her bed and made his way into his own bare bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Kenny opened the top drawer to reveal his Mysterion costume scrunched up underneath a pile of orange hoodies. The blonde quickly threw it on and pulled up the hood to protect his identity, briefly catching his refection in the mirror so he could adjust his cape.

The teen stepped across his room and climbed onto his window ledge, peering out of the small cracked window. It had started to snow again, small white flakes floating down from the darkening sky. It was definitely going to be a cold one tonight. He took a short breath and opened his window, leaping through it and landing below on his father’s broken jeep trailer.

He stood up and dusted himself off, ready for another evening of vigilante work.


	3. Coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got this one up! Sorry for the slight delay, been super busy irl! I’m hoping to get Chapter 4 up within the next few weeks so it’ll be uploaded quicker than this one.
> 
> Enjoy! c:

Pip was cold.

The icy breeze was more rigid than usual that evening, making the Brit wish he had a coat to keep himself warm. It was certainly needed in the cold weather. His blazer wasn’t too good at keeping the heat in on any normal occasion, but the bitter wind was making it difficult for him to concentrate on anything other than how cold he was.

The Brit rubbed his arms as he walked along the pavement, taking in the various sights and sounds of South Park’s busy high street. Jimbo and Ned were outside their gun shop, plastering sale posters to the windows. The strong wind had caught the poster Ned was struggling to stick to the door and had caused him to trip over, barrelling him into Jimbo. The two then fell into the muddy puddle at the side of the road, Jimbo cursing the poster.

‘Just your average day in South Park,’ Pip thought to himself as he passed them, exchanging a sympathetic look with Ned. 

Pip continued on his way down the stretch of the street, looking around for a café. He’d managed to save the last of his money from the thieves at school and decided that he was going to buy a hot drink. This would help him warm up a little before facing the bitter cold the rest of the evening. Soon enough, Pip found himself at Tweek Bros. Coffeehouse. He stood outside the door nervously, hoping that Craig wouldn’t be around to bully him.

Pip exhaled slowly. He pushed the door open and walked into the café, abruptly feeling a wave of apprehension wash over him. Although nobody had noticed him slip into the building, Pip felt like all eyes were on him. Years of having everyone glaring at him for no apparent reason had really taken its toll, causing him to unknowingly develop a touch of social anxiety. He hated being the centre of attention and just wanted to be left alone, but Pip wasn’t that lucky. He felt saddened at how people would stare at him - their beady eyes judging him constantly for every little thing he did, making him feel extremely awkward.

Pip swallowed his fear and stepped towards the counter, relieved not to see Craig lurking around. Tweek had his back to Pip and was drying a mug with a towel. Pip looked up at the menu. He just needed to order something cheap. Yes, something cheap and then he could get out of there. He decided on a simple coffee - despite the fact he despised it, as it was the cheapest thing on the menu and all he could afford.

“Um, excuse me?” he said softly.

Tweek finished drying the mug and turned around, surprised to see the Brit standing there. “Oh, it’s you.” he stated. “What c-can I get you?”

“G-Good evening Tweek, I hope that you have had a pleasant day today.” he looked up at the price board again. “Could I please get a small coffee?”

Tweek nodded his head, “Yeah, fine.” He turned away and started preparing it. 

Pip nodded his head in appreciation and fiddled with his fingers, turning around and looking at the other people in the café. They were all too busy laughing and joking with their friends to notice him, which was a relief. He didn’t realise he’d zoned out until he felt Tweek prod him in the back, causing him to flinch.

“Uh, Pip, it’s done.” Tweek repeated for the fourth time, handing over the polystyrene cup. “That’ll b-be two dollars please.”

Pip reached into his pocket and pulled out the crinkled notes, handing them over to the jittery teen. He bowed his head politely, taking the coffee from the counter. “Thank you. I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening.”

“Um, yeah... you too, I guess.” Tweek turned away.

“Righto.” Pip crossed the threshold of the café and left.

Safe at last. 

Pip embraced the warmth of the cup as he walked down the street, exhaling softly. He smiled, feeling a spark of excitement in his chest. He had successfully done it! He happily passed by the a few more shops on the street, a few flakes of snow beginning to flutter down. He shivered.

Pip was just about to take a sip from his cup when a slumped figure sitting against an old building caught his eye. She was sitting on a pile of newspapers, an old shaggy mutt sleeping at her side, and was apparently preaching from a dog-eared copy of the Bible. She looked frail and cold, which made Pip feel awfully terrible about drinking in front of her. In fact, it put him off the idea entirely. He hated seeing another person on the streets, especially one as sickly as she was, and knew that she probably deserved the hot drink a lot more than he did. After a few moments of consideration, he decided what to do.

“Here you go madam.”

The old woman peered up to see the shy blonde boy handing her a hot drink. She blinked in surprise. Nobody as young as this boy had ever offered her a drink before. Most people ignored her, cruelly kicking her and berating her for being homeless, but this teenager was different. He was understanding. She smiled and took the cup from him. “Oh bless you child, what a kind-hearted soul you have. May God look down on you with the same kindness some day.”

“Y-You’re most welcome. Thank you, miss.” He stood up and smiled kindly, tipping his hat to her. “I hope you have a good evening, madame.”

“You’re so very polite! Don’t see many like you around here these days.” she croaked, “You too, young one, you too.” 

Pip sighed and started walking back home. ‘At least the old woman will be a little warm now.’ He thought. Pip rubbed his arms and strolled back down the parade, hoping to reach shelter before the wind picked up again. He was so lost in his thoughts that he wasn’t looking where he was going and soon collided with a hard, flat chest, knocking him backwards. He looked up and felt his breath hitch.

“Well well well, chaps! Caught meself a slimy Brit!”

“H-Hello, Mr Scott, n-nice to see you again!” Pip stammered as he was hauled to his feet by said teen. “M-May I be of some assistance?”

“Yeah, you may!” Scott grabbed Pip’s arm and began dragging him down a secluded alley nearby, his drunken friends following. Once they arrived, Pip was thrown to the ground. He looked up timidly to see Scott angrily staring back down at him. “So, where’s my money, bitch?”

“M-Money?” Pip asked.

“Yeah, money! You said you were gonna get the prostitutes in! We waited in that warehouse for four hours and you never showed!”

Pip gulped. Scott had clearly got the wrong person, but Pip knew the redhead disliked being corrected, and could potentially take this information the wrong way. Still, someone had to tell him. “U-Um, Mr Scott? I-If I may say so sir... I think you’ve got the wrong person. W-We never had this arrangement, um, sir. P-Perhaps you mistook me for someone else?” 

Scott frowned and blinked as the sudden realisation hit him. “Oh yeah, you’re right! It was that other French bitch, Christophe! When I get my hands on him I’ll kill him!” He turned back to the trembling Pip, “Sorry about that, blondie. You can go free.”

“Aw but Scott, I thought we could ‘ave a little fun with ‘im!” One of his friends complained.

“Yeah, ‘e looks a bit like a girl. Besides, we’re owed this.” Another put in, stamping out his cigarette.

Scott smirked, “Well, okay then, since you asked so nicely. But I get to go first.”

Pip’s eyes widened at the insinuation and he leapt to his feet, sprinting out of the alley as fast as he could. He’d almost made it to the end when his arm was grabbed by one of Scott’s friends, pulling him back down the alley. 

Pip’s heart pounded in his chest as he struggled to get free. He weakly cried out for help and closed his eyes, not wanting to face Scott and his goons again. The man holding him shoved him forwards and he fell onto his knees. Pip hugged himself and was preparing to beg for his life when he heard five loud thumps. He slowly opened his eyes to see Scott and his friends laying unconscious underneath some large sacks full of what appeared to be sediment. 

Pip took this moment to hastily leave the alley, running away from his would be attackers. He ran as far down the street as his legs would take him and stopped when he reached his alley a few blocks down, panting loudly. That had been mildly terrifying to say the least. Pip leant up against the wall and tried to steady his erratic breathing. It wasn’t the first time someone had tried to violate him, but thankfully it had never actually happened… ‘yet, anyway.’ Pip thought to himself, before shaking it away. But who had helped him? Those sacks couldn’t have thrown themselves down at the gang, which suggested that someone had thrown them. 

It couldn’t have been Mysterion again, could it? Pip figured that the hero was still annoyed at him for being so lame during their first encounter and definitely wouldn’t have wanted to save him this time, so who did? Was it another one of the superheroes? 

Probably not, but Pip felt himself smile anyway.


	4. Project

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the long delay! Was bogged down with university work and my dissertation! Updates should be a lil quicker from now on. Thanks for your patience. <3

Kenny had come to the conclusion that Pip was an enigma, and a selfless one at that. 

He had seen Pip last night. Watched as he’d given up his drink for the homeless old woman he often saw on the way home from school. It was a simple gesture, but one that Kenny found memorable and poignant. Being a poor person himself, Kenny knew how much something as simple as a warm drink could mean to someone on a bad day and the smile that graced the woman’s face afterwards was worth every step he’d taken to follow Pip.

Knowing the Brit’s habit of getting into trouble, Kenny had secretly tailed him after school. Well, technically it was after detention, but thankfully for Kenny, Pip was also in detention, although he had no idea why. Pip was a goody two-shoes and never set a foot wrong in school, so him being in detention seemed uncanny. Despite this, Kenny thought it would be worthwhile finding out where the boy lived for future reference.

Kenny had swiftly run along building rooftops as his alter ego, watching the blonde’s every move without the threat of being seen under the cloak of darkness. The mission was pretty boring at first - having to watch one of his least favourite people simply walking down the street, being ignored left, right and centre by people he smiled at. After twenty minutes or so, Pip arrived at Tweek Bros Coffeehouse and went inside, returning a few minutes later with a steaming cup.

Kenny perched up high and waited for him to make his move back home, but instead the smaller blonde chose to give up his drink for a stranger, leaving him confused and bemused by his actions. A little while later, the superhero soon found himself having to step in and save Pip from Tenorman and his gang after they abducted him. Deciding to take care of the villains from afar, he dropped heavy ballast sacks on the group. 

He took one last look at the delighted Pip before taking a mad dash back home, without seeing the Brit’s journey all of the way through, not caring enough to see if he made it home okay. It was too much hassle.

What was with this kid?

Kenny shook these thoughts away as he stepped through the school doors, heading towards his two friends by the lockers.

“Hey Kenny!” Kyle greeted as his orange clad friend approached. “Wow, you look beat! Are you alright?”

Kenny ran his hand through his scruffy fringe. “I’m good, just a little tired.”

“Heard the news?” Stan asked.

“What news?”

“Garrison’s making us do a group project which will go towards our final Geography mark. He’s gonna be putting us into groups later today.” Stan said, passing his bag to Kyle.

“Aw, shit.” Kenny grumbled, running his hands through his locks. “What’s the project about?”

“I heard it was about the countries of Europe, so that shouldn’t be too bad.” Kyle said, holding Stan’s bag as his best friend shoved some books inside of the front pouch. “Right?”

“He’s still putting us into groups though. Plus Geography sucks. It’s gonna be totally lame.” Stan replied, taking his bag from his best friend. “Besides, if he pairs us off we know for definite that we’re not going to be with people we’re friends with. He’s a dick like that.”

“Well, as long as I’m not with Cartman I can’t complain.” Kyle smiled, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

~~~~~

Later that day, Kenny and his friends found themselves being bored to death by Kevin as he spoke about his science project during their Chemistry class. The geek was standing at the front of the classroom, getting excited over something the blonde didn’t understand nor care to think about, so Kenny spent the rest of his time ogling Wendy.

She was sitting next to Bebe, politely trying to ignore her friend as the blonde whispered gossip about their fellow classmates, obviously not taking note of the raven haired girl’s disinterest. Wendy let out a small smile and tried to listen and be supportive of Kevin as he continued rambling on, her dismissive actions finally getting through to her best friend to keep quiet. Kenny quickly gazed elsewhere when he caught Stan looking over at him, instead choosing to stare at Red’s chest. Once the redhead saw what he was doing, she flipped him off and turned away.

Kenny rolled his eyes and slouched down onto the table. His eyes met Kyle’s briefly, the ginger sending him a silent message indicating that even he was bored, and he normally enjoyed listening to what Kevin had to say. Kenny then turned his head to the other side of the classroom and saw Pip with his head resting on his hand, looking as though he was asleep. After a few moments of staring at him to see if he actually was asleep or not, the smaller blonde slowly opened his eyes, immediately spotting Kenny staring at him. Pip gave him a shy smile and turned away, burying his head in his workbook. Kenny rolled his eyes. Pip was an idiot.

After another fifteen minutes, Kevin finally finished his lecture to cheers from his classmates, mainly due to the fact he’d finished speaking. Kevin took a bow and moved his project off of the desk, walking back over to his seat. The teacher finally woke up from where he’d been ignoring his students and announced the next project presentation, which was Cartman’s.

Cartman grinned and pushed up from his stool, walking over to the front of the classroom with a simple box with the side cut out. “So, my science project is all about killing people I don’t like, so I’ve designed an oven to throw Kyle in.

Kenny groaned.

~~~~~

When lunchtime hit, Kenny felt more irritated than ever. He was tired, he was grumpy, his friends were pissing him off and he wanted to punch someone out because of it. He crossed the canteen and saw Clyde signalling him so walked over to his table. As usual, Clyde was sitting with his friends Token, Jimmy and the gays - Craig and Tweek, which is what the latter two were colloquially, yet amicably called by their classmates.

“Yo Kenny, have you seen Pip?” Clyde asked, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

Kenny sighed, “No I haven’t. Why?”

“Tweek said he went to the coffeehouse last night. We wanted to find him and question him about it.” Craig answered.

“Oh. Well I haven’t. Maybe he just wanted a drink?”

“Craig’s convinced he went in there to flirt with Tweek.” 

“Despite the fact the pussy literally just ordered a coffee then left.”

Kenny snorted, “That’s dumb as fuck. Craig needs to get a life.”

“I AM here you know.” Craig grumbled.

“You’re just being paranoid. You’re getting as bad as me!” Tweek teased.

“That’s your fault, idiot.” Craig replied, folding his arms like a petulant child.

Kenny rolled his eyes. “Is that all?”

“Yeah, so just - there he is!” Clyde cut off, spotting Pip as he entered the canteen. At these words, Craig stood up and stomped over to the blonde. Pip’s eyes were wide as Craig took his arm, dragging him outside. After few minutes Craig re-entered, brushing himself off. He walked back over to the group and sat down as if nothing had happened.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Did you sort him out?”

“He won’t be coming back there, that’s for sure.”

“You’re such a drama queen, Craig.”

Kenny rolled his eyes at the group and decided that was his cue to leave. He left the canteen and made his way over to the lockers. Kyle was there, arguing with Cartman over his science project as they waited for Stan to leave the bathroom. 

“-it was insensitive and hurtful! How could you even say something like that?”

“Shut your mouth Kahl! Stop being a pussy bitch and take it like a man!”

“Ooh, kinky.” Kenny snarked by way of greeting.

“Go away Ken, we don’t need your input!” Kyle frowned.

~~~~~

Kenny sat in his Geography lesson, fiddling with his pen. He glanced over at Wendy who was busy answering one of the teacher’s questions, shyly brushing off Stan’s compliments about how clever she was. Her eyes shined as she answered Bebe and Kenny smiled as she giggled at something her friend said.

Wait, why was he staring at her again?

Kenny shook off his thoughts and gazed back at Mr Garrison who was explaining the presentation project to his students. It was about the countries of Europe, and sounded boring as hell. He sighed and glanced over at his fellow classmates before finding his eyes on Pip again.

The Brit had his head down, trying hard not to draw any attention to himself. Kenny studied his face. He looked gaunt and kind of sad, a distinctive red mark higlighting his face. Kenny narrowed his eyes in thought.

After Garrison told the class their groups, the students stood up to find them. Kenny slowly shuffled over to the table where his group members were at. Butters and Kevin had already started outlining country themes and ideas as Wendy listened. Kenny approached the table and sat next to Wendy.

“Do you have any ideas, Kenny?” she asked with a smile.

Kenny found it hard not to get lost in her eyes, “Uh, no but I’ll go with whatever you guys pick. I’m easy on.”

“Great! I think Butters is settling on France so France it will be! Ahh France, Paris - the city of love.” 

Kenny cleared his throat.

On the other side of the classroom, Pip forced a smile as his group members crowded around the table. Craig looked as though he wanted to be anywhere but there, as did Red, and Cartman looked thoroughly pissed off.

“Um so, did any of you guys have any ideas about the project?” Pip started.

“I’ve got a good idea. How about you do the whole thing and we’ll take credit afterwards. Sound fair?”

“S-Sure, I can do that, Eric! But, um, is there anything in particular that you want me to include? I’ll do anything you want me to.” Pip asked with a smile.

“Do anything you want us to? How about you jump off a cliff or something?” Red snarked, causing the boys to laugh. 

Pip tried not to feel hurt. “I don’t think that would be a very good idea right now.” he gave a small smile. “Aside from that, do you have any ideas of what you want me to include?”

“I don’t care, just choose your own stuff, Frenchie!” Cartman snapped.

“Yeah, as long as it’s good and we end up getting top marks, who cares?”

“Um, right. Is it okay if we do the UK then?”

“No you may not! I don’t want to be part of a project to do with that dumb country!” Cartman scoffed. “Do a better one! Do Russia or Germany!”

Pip scribbled a few notes down. “Y-Yes Cartman.”

Craig abruptly grabbed Pip’s blazer collar and pulled him forward, “And if you don’t do this properly, we WILL be throwing you off a cliff. Got it?”

Pip nodded his head, “R-Righto.”

Kenny sighed as he witnessed this exchange. Pip deserved a break for once. He decided on something, then at the end of the lesson when everyone had left, he spoke to Garrison about it. 

“Hey, uh... can I swap places with Pip?” he asked.

“Why?”

“Because... I don’t wanna work with Kevin. He’s annoying and I find it hard to focus around him.”

“Well, normally I don’t switch kids around but what the hell - I’ll do it anyway. Okay, you can switch but you’ll be the one telling Pip about it.” Mr Garrison threw his legs up on his desk. “Now if you don’t mind, I have porno mags to read.”

Kenny nodded and left the room.

Now to find Pip.

~~~~~

Kenny looked down the corridor. For such an obvious target the boy had been difficult to find thus far. He saw Token standing by the lockers and slid over to him.

“Hey Token.”

“Hey Ken. Last period’s almost over. Where you been?”

“Looking for Frenchie. He owes me homework. He in lesson?”

“No. Last time I saw him I think he was with Heidi and Red. They skipped class together - the two girls I mean.”

“Where?”

“Outside the girl’s toilets.”

Nodding his head in thanks, Kenny headed that way. When he arrived, he saw the two girls standing there, cleaning some blood off the wall. He raised an eyebrow. “Yo. You two seen Frenchie?”

“He was walking down the corridor about fifteen minutes ago. I don’t know where he went though.” Heidi said.

“Right.” Kenny continued his journey down the corridor, then saw a storeroom at the end of the corridor, knowing that’s probably where the blonde went. His job was made easier when he saw a few droplets of blood on the floor heading in that direction.

Kenny opened the door, causing the occupant of the room to jump violently. The figure shot to his feet, overbalanced, and fell back down in a pathetic heap, his breathing ragged. He could do nothing but stare up at the orange parka wearing teen with wide eyes. “K-Kenneth?”

Kenny was taken aback, “What are you doing in here?”

Pip was also taken aback by Kenny’s sudden appearance and quickly forced out, “Composing myself.”

Kenny frowned, “For what?”

Pip promptly changed the subject. “I-Is there something you need?”

“No, uh, well, yes. I just needed to tell you that Garrison’s swapped us around.”

Pip rubbed the back of his head, seeming a little dazed. “Swapped us around?”

“In our project groups. You’re now with Butters and the others and I’m with Craig, Red and Cartman. He sent me to tell you.”

Pip looked surprised and subtly relieved. “R-Really?”

“Yeah.”

“W-Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know. You know what he’s like.”

“I suppose...” Pip pushed himself to his feet, wobbling a little. “Thank you for telling me.” 

“Uh, yeah, whatever.” Kenny turned away, preparing to walk back out.

The smaller blonde struggled to his feet then glanced over at Kenny, hoping he wasn’t going to suddenly attack him. He rubbed the back of his head again, wiping his hand on his sleeve after he’d done so.

Kenny reached the door and held it open for him, much to Pip’s surprise. He smiled anxiously and gestured for the older blonde to head through it before he did. Kenny figured it was down to the Brit’s politeness and lack of trust towards him. He did as he was bid and walked through, holding the door open for Pip. Pip still seemed surprised by this and followed him.

The two boys ended up walking the same way as one another, unintentionally on Kenny’s part, anyway. They walked in silence, although Kenny could hear Pip’s laboured breathing and then noticed his limp. Pip was desperately trying to hide it but Kenny could see his leg was obviously causing him pain. He wondered if that was the reason why he was breathing so odd.

The two came to a stop in the middle of the hallway when they saw Clyde at the bottom of the corridor, his back to them. Pip’s breath hitched and he paused momentarily, trying to consider his options.

Kenny raised an eyebrow. “Trying to avoid Clyde?”

Pip shook his head. 

“You don’t have to lie. Everyone knows he beats on you.”

Pip smiled forlornly.

“Well if you head down the corridor this way he won’t see you.” Kenny suggested, not really sure as to why he was helping him. He stuck his hands in his pockets.

Pip considered this. Kenny was probably lying and sending him into an ambush, but it was a chance he was willing to take right now. He bowed his head. “I hope you have a good evening, Kenneth.”

“Whatever.”

With that, Pip scampered down the corridor, leaving a bemused Kenny behind.


End file.
